Consorta Selects Neoforma As Preferred Provider Of Data And Order Management Solutions For Member Hospitals
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. and SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Consorta, Inc., a leading group purchasing and resource management company, and Neoforma, Inc. , a leading provider of supply chain management solutions for the healthcare industry, have entered into a three-year agreement naming Neoforma as the preferred provider of supply chain data management and order management services to the Consorta membership base.
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Neoforma Data Management Solution(TM) (Neoforma DMS) and Neoforma Order Management Solution(TM) (Neoforma OMS) are the only data and order management solutions that are currently endorsed by Consorta. As part of the agreement, which broadens the existing strategic relationship between Consorta and Neoforma, teams from both organizations will collaborate with Consorta members to advance the benefits of Neoforma DMS and Neoforma OMS.
"Through its support of our Global Catalog Initiative, Neoforma has proven to be a first-rate, trusted resource for Consorta and our members," says John Strong, president and chief executive officer of Consorta. "Neoforma understands how to support our ongoing supply chain automation efforts, including helping Consorta and our members to identify opportunities to reduce costs and improve decision making. We are pleased to offer their value-add services to our members."
"By making both Neoforma DMS and Neoforma OMS available to Consorta hospitals, we are strengthening our efforts to drive cost reductions and increase efficiencies in the supply chain," says Darrel Weatherford, chief operating officer of Consorta. "We look forward to providing increasing value to our members in collaboration with Neoforma by providing electronic access to suppliers, online reporting and rich analytics for clean, normalized and well-categorized spend data." Consorta, one of the nation's largest group purchasing organizations, returned $94.6 million in cash distributions in 2004 to its members, which include leading health systems such as Ascension Health, Catholic Health East, Catholic Health Initiatives, Sisters of St. Francis Health Services and Trinity Health. These cash distributions represent the highest return to members in Consorta's seven years.
In 2004, Neoforma entered into two data management agreements with Consorta to cleanse, classify, enrich and maintain the Consorta Contract Catalog as part of Consorta's multi-year Global Catalog Initiative. With this data foundation in place, the contract vendor and product information used to support Neoforma DMS and Neoforma OMS will be updated and accurate, accelerating the value of electronic transactions to Consorta members. Using Neoforma DMS, Consorta members will be able to improve their contract purchasing by using well-cleansed, categorized and normalized data to more accurately analyze their supply chain spend across their organization. Additionally, they will be better able to track and trend their spend information by vendor, manufacturer and other product attributes through a series of usage-based reports.
"Neoforma's growth strategy centers on establishing strong channel partnerships with leading healthcare organizations like Consorta to deliver our solutions to hospitals to help them take costs out of their supply chains," says Bob Zollars, chairman and chief executive officer of Neoforma. "Over the past year, we've developed a strong working relationship with Consorta based on our successful collaboration on its Global Catalog Initiative, with the intent of delivering additional, complementary solutions to Consorta members. We are excited by this sponsored opportunity to expand our relationship."
Neoforma DMS is a powerful data cleansing and maintenance solution that enables hospital customers to improve the accuracy of their item master and vendor master data files, as well as increase utilization through procurement matching services. Additionally, Neoforma DMS offers rich analytics against spend data and purchasing history so that hospitals have actionable information to make better decisions on supply spend. Neoforma DMS enables users to better maintain data integrity and accuracy on an ongoing basis.
Neoforma OMS combines Web-based reporting, discrepancy management tools and connectivity to suppliers to help drive significant savings for hospitals through increased electronic transactions, online order status availability and rapid discrepancy resolution.
Neoforma customer John Hatzenbuhler, director of supply chain management at Milwaukee's Ministry Health Care, a Consorta shareholder system, has enjoyed faster and easier access to purchasing information using Neoforma OMS. "By electronically connecting Ministry to our suppliers, Neoforma OMS has given us the ability to view our order status and discrepancies quickly, allowing us to focus only on resolving problem areas, saving precious time and resources."
About Consorta
Consorta, based in suburban Chicago, is a leading healthcare resource management and group purchasing organization, whose shareholders are faith-based or non-profit health systems. As a cooperative, Consorta's shareholders and participants share fully in the organization's bottom-line performance, as well as receiving significant discounts through scale purchasing economies. Consorta's Shareholders are among the leading integrators of non-profit health care in America, sponsoring significant care providers in many parts of the country. Consorta's 13 Shareholder health care systems represent 60% of all Catholic hospitals in the United States, own many extended and alternate care sites and have extensive affiliate relationships with other non-profit hospitals and alternate care facilities. For more information visit http://www.consorta.com/.
About Neoforma
Neoforma is a leading supply chain management solutions provider for the healthcare industry. Through a unique combination of technology, information and services, Neoforma provides innovative solutions to over 1,500 hospitals and suppliers, supporting more than $10 billion in annualized transaction volume. By bringing together contract information and order data, Neoforma's integrated solution set delivers a comprehensive view of an organization's supply chain, driving significant cost savings and better decision-making for both hospitals and suppliers. For more information, point your browser to http://www.neoforma.com/ .
This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the value realized by our Consorta OMS and DMS customers, the broadened strategic partnership between Neoforma and Consorta, and Neoforma's expanded customer base. There are a number of risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. These risks include the risks that Consorta will not pursue broader relations with Neoforma, that the value received by Consorta members will not meet expectations and the risk generally related to the willingness of customers to accept Neoforma's business model of providing supply chain management solutions for the healthcare industry and the ability of Neoforma to manage its anticipated growth and related technological challenges. These risks and other risks are described in Neoforma's periodic reports filed with the SEC, including its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2004. These statements are current as of the date of this release and Neoforma assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this news release.
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Web site: http://www.neoforma.com/